A long way from home: Ginny's tale
by Uzamaki-Girl
Summary: Ginny's having a hard time getting over Harry's death and gets help from an unexpected source. HarryGinny. au with the release of the deathly hallows.


DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter.

AN: First installment in the long way from home series.

* * *

"_Harry" Ginny asked quietly, running her fingers through his hair._

_"Hmmm?" he said tiredly from his position on her lap._

_Ginny bit her lip. "Promise me you'll come back to me- promise me you won't die." She said almost desperately._

_Harry frowned. "You know I can't make that promise Gin."_

_She bowed her head. Harry sat up and gently raised her chin so that his eyes met her's. He smiled sadly. "It doesn't matter anyway Gin; I'm only ever truly alive when I'm with you." He pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ears._

_"Don't say that." She admonished, swatting his arm with her hand._

_He smiled sadly again before standing up and offering her his hand. He heaved her up and they began the long trek back to Hogwarts. They walked mostly in silence until Harry looked down at her, smiled boyishly and said "I like the sky like this."_

_She couldn't help the burst of happiness that slid through her. It had been so long since he had smiled like that. "Like what?" she asked tightening her hold on his hand._

_"All mixed with colors. It looks…alive." He said, his eyes never leaving the sky._

_Ginny felt her heart constrict. She squeezed his hand and felt him give a small squeeze back. "Yeah" she said, looking up at him "It does."

* * *

_

She hadn't cried since she found out. Not so much as a tear. When they had told them all, her mother had sucked in such a loud audible breath that she thought her ribs would break and Ron had turned so red that he looked as if he would faint, but she had only stared stony faced at the table, willing her heart not to shatter. Now weeks later and at his funeral, Ginny still hadn't cried. She refused to. She had known the dangers of what he had to do, but she'd been adamant. She had wanted so much to believe that he would make it out of this war alive and that when he did; not if he did they could finally be together. They had talked about their future constantly, each of them filled with images of little green eyed-red hair children and a little crooked house just like the Burrow. They would live in the country they had said and not need the city because they would have each other. And after all the dreaming was done it hadn't mattered how much she had wanted, hoped or prayed. The Dark Lord was dead but so was her Harry.

He had always been her Harry, even when he hadn't known it. It was just the little things about him that had made her fall for him so entirely. It wasn't when he had saved the world or even saved her. No, it was everything else about him. It was the time when he had paid for Ron's dress robes with his Triwizard earnings, or when he had let Hermione tell him all about _Hogwarts A History _because he knew she was upset and it was when he had let her cry on his shoulder in the waiting room an hour after the chamber of secrets, even though her tears were creating a wet patch in his new school robes. It was his laugh, it was his essence…it was just Harry.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by a small tug on her arm and looked up into the impossibly sad eyes of her brother. Somewhere in between the Eulogy and the ceremonial blessing she must have retreated into herself. She thanked Ron and quickly turned her attention back to the minister. The ceremony was held at Hogwarts but afterwards his body was to be carried out to Godrics Hollow, where he would be buried next to his parents. After the funeral, Ginny walked to the lake where she and Harry had sat only weeks ago. She couldn't believe how much things had changed in such a short period of time. Pulling off her shoes, she sat on the bank and dipped her feet into the water; careful not to splash any water on her mourning robes. Over the last couple of days, people had been running up to her and offering their condolences. Most of them were people she didn't even know, people who hadn't known Harry. She didn't want their sympathy, not when they didn't really mean it.

Ginny could hear the crunching of footsteps on leaves but didn't bother to get up. The footsteps were light and soft, so it couldn't be her brothers. She listened closely. Nor was it the self assured stride of her mother or Hermione. That left only…

"Ginny." Cho said nervously, tugging on a black lock that had come out of her bun. "I wanted to talk to you."

Ginny could only stare and wonder why in the bloody hell Cho Chang would want to talk to her.

When it looked as if Ginny wasn't going to reply, Cho hesitantly walked over and sat down on the bank next to her.

"I know" Cho started "I know we aren't exactly friends and that I'm probably the last person that you'd want to talk to but please hear me out." She chanced a glance over at Ginny and continued. "I know how you feel. And I know when ever anyone starts a sentence off like that your bound to contradict but I really do know how you feel Ginny. I know the aching pain that never seems to go away and how it feels like a hammer is chipping away at your heart bit by bit." She swallowed. This was dredging up painful memories she'd rather not remember but Cho needed her to understand.

"At the time that I went out with Harry, I was no where near recovering. I still couldn't mention Cedric without crying and I still considered him first in my heart. Our relationship was doomed from the start. Harry was sweet but he just wasn't Cedric. And I just wasn't ready for him yet." She stopped and turned towards Ginny. "But you Ginny, you've always understood him and I think you need to understand him now. Harry wouldn't want you to act this way. You're cutting yourself off from your family and it's hurting them; anyone can see that. You see Ginny, there hurting to and its times like these families should be together." She stopped for a second, obviously thinking about her own family; before her face took on a pained look. "Gain strength from them and don't walk away from everything Harry fought so hard to protect."

Cho's eyes were boring into Ginny's brown ones, willing her to understand. And strangely enough she did. After a moment Cho's eyes softened but never lost that same intensity. "I'm not telling you not to grieve; I wouldn't say such a thing. Only that when you've grieved all you can grieve, let it go and focus on all the good things. Shutting people out and shutting off yourself won't take away the pain- it'll only prolong it. I don't want you to go through that alone-not when you don't have to . I'd like to think that where ever Cedric is he's happy… and I'd like to think Harry's there to."

Cho's eyes looked glassy and her lip quivered a bit but it didn't stop her from getting out all she needed to say. "I try not to think of it as the end- death I mean. Just a new beginning… the next great adventure. And from what I've seen through out the years, Harry could never stay out of an adventure."

The last line had brought a thick silence over the two, each left to think on what was said. Finally, after what seemed like aneternity to both girls; Ginny choked out, her eyes equally bright "No, Harry really could never stay out of an adventure." She thought of Harry then, whizzing away on his firebolt somewhere she could not follow and something inside her broke. She turned to Cho, realizing somewhere in her addled mind that she barely knew this girl, and did something she had not done in nearly a month. She cried.

It wasn't till she was half way home; Cho's words still reverberating in her head, that everything was put into perspective. After she had gotten through crying, Ginny had felt drained but oddly peaceful- like this huge weight had been lifted off her chest. She realized now that Harry wouldn't have wanted her to put her life on hold just because he wasn't physically there to share it with her anymore. In her heart of hearts, Ginny knew he would have wanted her to be happy. The truth was that Harry would never fully leave them. He was in the trees and the grass, and more importantly in their hearts. She stopped for a second as a light breeze passed by. It was warm and made the leaves dance and her hair sway. She breathed deep. It smelt like earth and quiditch. And suddenly she knew everything was going to be ok. Ginny was a long way from home- far away from her nephews raspberry kisses, her mothers Sunday pies, Ron's chess games, her cleansweep and Charlie's Dragons. But she was assured with the knowledge that she'd get back there one day. One day soon.

After all she thought, looking up, as another warm breeze washed over her.

The sky was alive with color.

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End file.
